Husband accused of pushing wife off cliff arrested on assault charge

Kate Collins | BDN | BDN

Kate Collins | BDN | BDN

Rescue crews carry down Charles Black, 68, of Camden from Mt. Megunticook on Thursday, April 7, 2011. Earlier in the day, his injured wife, Lisa, made her way down the mountain, which lead law enforcement authorities to search for her husband. Lisa Black says her husband repeatedly smashed a rock into her head and then shoved her off a cliff on Mount Megunticook on April 7, according to a protection from abuse order she filed in court Thursday, April 14.

CAMDEN, Maine — The man accused of assaulting his wife and then pushing her off Maiden Cliff was arrested by state police on Friday night after he was released from the hospital, according to the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Charles Black, 68, of Camden was charged with aggravated assault and taken to Penobscot County Jail about 9:30 p.m. Friday, public safety spokesman Stephen McCausland said.

Lisa Black says her husband repeatedly smashed a rock into her head and then shoved her off a cliff on Mount Megunticook on April 7, according to a protection from abuse order she filed in court Thursday.

Both Lisa Black, 52, and Charles Black had been hospitalized with head injuries at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor since they fell off part of 800-foot Maiden Cliff while hiking Camden Hills State Park.

“Charles Reed Black hit me over the head with a rock three to four times. He then pushed me off Maiden’s Cliff,” Lisa Black wrote in a protection order filed in Rockland District Court. “He then pursued me down the hill as I tried to escape and seek help.”

He also somehow fell and was seriously injured.

Lisa Black managed to make it down the mountain by herself where a passing motorist saw her and called police. She told police her husband was still on the mountain, prompting a 3½-hour search for the man. A Maine Warden Service search dog found Charles Black. Both were taken by LifeFlight helicopter to EMMC.

In her request for a protection order, Lisa Black stated that her husband “has a temper” and that she believed “this is his second attempt which also happened while hiking.” She checked a box on the court form stating that she is “in immediate and present danger of abuse by [Charles Black].”

The protection order was granted to Lisa Black on Thursday. It prevents Charles Black from having any contact with his wife. It also banishes him from their Camden home and temporarily bans him from possessing any guns. He must relinquish any firearms or weapons he owns.

Lisa Black still was hospitalized Friday, according to McCausland.

McCausland said the case is under investigation by Maine State Police and Camden police.

The Blacks are retired schoolteachers from Missouri who moved to Camden in the past year, McCausland said in previous statements.

The Blacks will have a hearing on the protection order in Rockland District Court on May 5.

Charles Black was still being held at Penobscot County Jail as of 5 p.m. Saturday and would likely remain there through the weekend, according a staff member at the jail. No new charges had been filed. The staff member said Black likely will be transferred to the Knox County Jail in Rockland.